An attractive view of lush green Margallah Hills in Federal Capital City. PHOTO: APP
In the coming days, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) will be facing the inevitable question of how to stay green while growing big. The city managers seem to have a kind ear to any proposal to expand the city in all four directions.
In a recent development, the CDA board has decided to develop a new commercial cum residential hub in the foothills of the Margalla Hills near the proposed sector C-16.
The project will be launched through the platform of Pakistan Avenue Development Limited (PADL), a subsidiary of the CDA.
The little known company, PADL, was formed in July 2013 following the directions of the federal government - as was claimed by the former CDA chairman Nadeem Hassan Asif at the time of approval of this company by the CDA board.
The PADL is registered as public limited company with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and its board of directors includes the CDA chairman and members of the estate and administration wings of the authority.
According to the plan, approved by its board on January 30, the CDA will transfer nearly 70 acres of land forming Gandhara Triangle to PADL for development of a modern commercial-cum-residential hub.
The PADL would pay the cost of land to the CDA within three months from the date of transfer. However, the payment would be made at the rate equivalent to the last acquisition carried out by the CDA.
It’s worth remembering that the CDA acquired land in this area at a rate of Rs800,000 per kanal during last land acquisition. The company will be paying approximately Rs448 million for 70 acres of prime land.
After the land’s transfer, the company would develop the area.
“The commercial-cum-residential hub would be sold to general public and companies.
The revenue generated would be shared with the CDA/federal government after taking out essential and necessary costs incurred by the company for the project,” says a document presented before the CDA board on Thursday.
However, it’s not known if the federal government would fund the company to carryout development work at Gandhara Triangle and for making payment of land cost to the CDA or the company would shore up its own revenue by selling its shares.
To put things on fast track, the authority would launch and execute this initiative through the PADL, the document does not answer the question as to why the CDA, which itself is a development agency, will execute the project through its subsidiary body.
There are conflicting views, even within the CDA, over the location of the proposed 70 acres of land forming the Gandhara Triangle. The summary presented before the board on Friday identifies that proposed chunk of land is located opposite Sector C-16.
“The triangle of land is bounded in the northeast by village Shah Allah Ditta, in the west by the GT Road and in the south by the Margalla Avenue,” says the document available with The Express Tribune.
“Owing to its location, it can be utilised for the development of a residential as well as commercial zone as per planning parameters provided by the Planning Wing of the CDA,” the document reads.
One of the members of the CDA board rebutted the view if the said land was located within Zone-III of the federal capital, where any sort of construction activities are prohibited under the rules governing the Margalla Hills National Park area.
“I can assure you that the sanctity of Zone-III will not be violated. The land is located within Zone-II of the capital,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2014.
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